FILM · 2024 · USA
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
35 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
35 Interesting Facts About Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Interesting Facts (29)
- #001
- #002
The final scene implies that even at the time this film is set, no cure had been found for the mutated Simian Flu, and humanity, which retained its intelligence and technology, was forced into hermetically sealed environments to prevent infection. This helps explain why they could not rebuild their civilization or reclaim the planet from the apes despite their technological superiority. They are literally trapped in their arcologies, and apparently because they are immune, only a handful of people such as Mae and Trevathan can go out on scouting missions. It also helps explain why reestablishing satellite communication matters so much to these people: after centuries of isolation, it would finally let them begin working together, at least in terms of exchanging information.
- #003
- #004
- #005
- #006
According to Freya Allan, the film initially had a much darker ending in the scene where Mae visits Noa; Noa held a gun behind her back in case she went out to avenge the apes who died in the flood. It comes across as a precaution, but Allan explained that the scene was actually meant to have far worse consequences: Mae went there specifically to kill Noa. Allan explained: "In the scene we shot, Mae was going there to kill him because he scares her. His intelligence scares her. Mae doesn't want to kill him but feels she has to. Initially you see her pull a gun on Noa, but his back is turned. And you think, 'Oh my God, is she about to shoot him?' Mae is crying as she does it. And then she doesn't. The moment he says Raka's name, she puts the gun down. But during editing they wanted it to be more subtle, and honestly I prefer what they did with it. It's much smarter and really makes you think more. So it becomes a very emotional farewell full of tragic, permanent disaster."
- #007
Director Wes Ball was especially proud of the VFX, particularly the 33 minutes of full CG (a franchise first), and above all the enormous amount of simulated water. The standout part is an action scene with water flowing into a weapons silo. "We filled a converted parking garage with CG water and had the actors put 20 lb sandbags on their legs and walk through the scene pretending to be in water. It was a crazy amount of data. Petabytes, petabytes and petabytes. And we worked very hard to build a solid cinematic language across all of it."
- #008
- #009
Mae manipulates Noa by acting like a simple wild human, so that he and Raka treat her as a harmless pet and allow her access to the shelter. This is essentially the same thing Koba does to the humans in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), where Koba presents himself as a dumb, stupid ape so they won't realize how dangerous he is. It is a subtle example of mirroring factions that shows both sides using cunning, covert tactics and the danger inherent in underestimating either species.
- #010
Trevathan tells Mae that among all the texts and books he read to him, Proximus was most interested in Roman history and primarily modeled himself and his ideal Kingdom on various figures from it. Proximus may have been enlightened about this particular period when he learned that one of the most famous and influential Roman leaders was Julius Caesar (whose name, of course, the apes' own Caesar directly takes).
- #011
VFX supervisor Erik Winquist, who worked on all three previous entries in the series, emphasizes that the later installments depict the apes and their world realistically with advanced technology. Animators at Weta FX did serious work to create the visuals, resulting in 946 million thread hours spent on rendering. Winquist said: "When it comes to the evolution of technology, I'm very proud of where we are now. When I go back and look at some of the scenes in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, they look very primitive to me now. And at the time we thought it was the peak, that it was magnificent. But it's great to see that technology keeps improving the believability and realism not just of the look but of the performance. And what our animators were able to achieve is quite breathtaking."
- #012
- #013
- #014
Wes Ball conceived the Noa/Mae story as a new trilogy and has already mapped out the next two films, which will struggle to carry on Caesar's legacy. Given our divisive times, he believes the franchise remains as timely as ever. "There are so many stories to tell. What I like about the series is that these films hold a mirror up to our society and what we're going through, and let us look at ourselves and see humanity through these apes' eyes," Ball said.
- #015
- #016
In Proximus's speech about human pride, it is stated that humans were once able to "speak across oceans" and recorded this before losing it along with their intelligence. The film's ending reveals that some of humanity managed to retain its intelligence and, through Mae's efforts, reestablished that asset, successfully reactivating radio communication worldwide.
- #017
The Eagle Clan has completely severed itself from Caesar's legacy and from the shared history of apekind, which is reflected in the fact that they have developed a genuinely indigenous ape culture and society rather than one derived from human civilization. This shows even in their personal names; unlike the coastal clan, which still uses human names (Proximus, Silva), the Eagle Clan uses names not derived from human names.
- #018
Initially both Bad Ape and Nova (played by a person who resembled the original actress, due to the original actress's age) were to appear in the funeral scene at the beginning of the film alongside Rocket and Maurice. In the end, Nova was cut over concerns that audiences would confuse her with Mae, and Bad Ape was cut because of the time and money required to recreate him and his model.
- #019
- #020
Noa's name works on two levels: first, it continues the biblical parallels of the previous trilogy. While Caesar is likened to Moses, who both helped free enslaved peoples and led them to a promised land he himself would never enter, Noa is likened to Noah, who helped save his people from a great flood. Second, Mae's first line on screen is her shouting "NOA!" — a reminder that Caesar's first word in the previous trilogy was a big "NO!"
- #021
Proximus Caesar echoes another bonobo from the previous reboot trilogy: Koba. He was a human hungry for power who wanted to go to war with humans and wipe them from the Earth entirely. Both were disinclined to trust humans based on their experiences: (Koba was experimented on by them, while Proximus's encounter with two humans capable of speech and problem-solving could lead to an uprising against his own clan and other ape species). Both were likewise to meet their deaths the same way: being thrown from a ledge by a fellow ape — in this case, a chimpanzee.
- #022
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- #024
Wes Ball discussed the size of the data used for the film: "Just one simulation data, the cache file they create for this kind of thing, is 10-11 petabytes of material. That's what I'm told, more than The Way of Water." It is not known how much data was used in total for the film, but Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) used 18.5 petabytes of data.
- #025
- #026
While preparing to play primates, Owen Teague spent a great deal of time watching and studying primates and even eventually began imitating their eating habits. In fact, he and the other actors ate so many bananas on set that it eventually became a running joke. Teague told Entertainment Weekly: "Because I was in it every day for six months, I had a routine. I'd wake up two hours before the call time. I'd do warm-ups, I'd do breathing exercises and I'd do vocal work. Then I'd eat something, usually a banana. There's a constant joke among the actors that we all love bananas. Not more bananas, I need a breakfast that includes avocado eggs every day. But those come up throughout the day."
- #027
- #028
Kevin Durand's character manipulates the words and teachings of the benevolent ape so that he can enslave apes to carry out a greater task, such as unlocking a vault full of human technology and intelligence. But as actors behind villains often must, Durand found a way to defend his character's point of view. "He knew Apedom's end would be cages. They'd be put on plates and eaten and slaughtered. They'd also be experimented on in laboratories, and he needed to do what he needed to do as quickly as possible," Durand explains. "He needed to bring all the apes in the country to his kingdom so they could achieve the goal of obtaining this knowledge. I don't think he likes having to do what he has to do. But he has no other choice."
- #029
Freya Allan addressed a number of topics, including the emergence of Mae's intelligence. In an interview, she admitted she was fully prepared to lie about this aspect of her character, and director Wes Ball also wanted it kept secret. She stated that the release of this revelation in one of the new trailers was "embarrassing," but she still hoped it would catch audiences off guard, like Noa and his friend Raka. In these early moments, when Mae appears to be an ordinary feral human, Allan drew on times in her childhood when she behaved like an animal. Mae's aim was to avoid suspicion by striking a balance between not being an "overly perfect" imitation of the feral humans she heard about in stories growing up and being "a rabbit in the middle of headlights." With the help of movement coordinator Alain Gauthier, Allan gave Mae a physicality similar to, though not entirely like, that of other feral humans. "She's not feral and she doesn't know much about them. She actually hasn't seen a single one [until the second act]," she said. "So you need to see those little moments where you go, 'She's not the same as those other humans.'" According to Allan, Mae's actions throughout the film were split evenly between careful planning and thinking on her feet. She said that following Noa and eventually speaking to him was planned, but that the final part, being cornered by Proximus's men, accelerated faster than expected. At other moments, Mae knew her mission would be easier if she could win Noa and his clan over to her side; she just had to keep her full intentions close to her chest. Between them there is a genuine friendship that could point to how humans and apes might coexist, but at the end of the day, "she has her own agenda and they're not on the same team. […] What else is she supposed to do? Tell him right away that she wants to reconnect all the humans on the planet? Obviously not."
Behind the Scenes (1)
- #030
When it came time to get into character, Owen Teague said it would take him only 15 minutes to have motion-capture dots placed on his face and to put on the costume: "Then I go to the film set and usually our movement coordinator Elaine would guide us through a warm-up, and that's it. It became a ritual for me, that was my day. We'd shoot for 10 hours and eat five more meals before that, which you need to keep up the calories you burn. Then I'd go home, eat dinner, shower and go to bed. That was my life for six months, and it was truly wonderful."
Characters & Cast (1)
- #031
For the role of Proximus Caesar, Kevin Durand drew inspiration from charismatic speakers such as life coach Tony Robbins, tech billionaire Elon Musk and Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom he observed during the years he served as governor of California. Schwarzenegger nearly took a role in the 1990s reboot of the Planet of the Apes series.
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #032
In an interview with Empire, director Wes Ball drew the comparison that in previous films we saw the apes in their "Stone Age," but in this film we see them in their "Bronze Age"; whereas they were previously organized hunter-gatherers, they now have more permanent settlements, wear clothing, use metal tools and possess a more advanced culture with religion and a writing system. The film's actual depiction, however, places the apes closer to their "Chalcolithic period," since some clans still use stone tools and, apart from salvaged human artifacts, ape metalwork consists mostly of copper.
- #033
According to visual effects supervisor Erik Winquist, the reboot will bring a new tone and aesthetic changes to the series. "The previous three films were heavy, both aesthetically and tonally. They were a bit bleak. We were talking about an apocalypse. So this film gives us the opportunity to go into the future beyond that and find ourselves a brand-new cast of characters. It lets us take on a different tone. Aesthetically, it's a fun adventure story that looks very different from the previous films. The cinematic language we used is very different from the previous films. So it was a great opportunity to try a new experience," a new look and a new space for a familiar franchise.
Deeper Meaning (2)
- #034
- #035
Kevin Durand also cited real-world history to explain why Proximus does not want humans to regain power through the contents of the silo. "You know what we're like. We're greedy and we're so selfish as a race. Look at the state of the world since the beginning of our time here and it hasn't stopped," Durand says. "We're always killing each other over the stupidest things: territory, interpretation of dogma. I researched this deeply too and I never thought of him as evil. I just thought of him as a man on a mission, or a bonobo on a mission."
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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